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[OP-ED]: 100 years of U.S. citizenship: What Does it mean for Puerto Ricans?

A nation within a nation, "possessed and unwanted", as author Juan Gonzales writes in his book "Harvest of Empire," the diaspora boricua celebrates with pride their culture in the land of adoption, the United States of America.

That is why AL DÍA launched last week one of the most exciting editorial projects during our 25 years of existence as an independent news outlet —owned and operated by journalists— here in Philadelphia, home to the second largest settlement of the large Puerto Rican Diáspora in the U.S.

Taking advantage of the DNC2016, which was hosted in our city the final week of July, AL DÍA launched an unique editorial crowd-sourcing project to document an untold, undocumented story:

This quiet migration of millions of Puerto Ricans taking place from their beautiful Caribbean Island to large cities on the United States, like Philadelphia, New York or Orlando, over 100 years of a rather sore experience for thousands of families, forced like others in the previous waves of immigrants coming into “Los Estados Unidos de América”, to make the unforeseeable passage across oceans, mountains and valleys, all in search of a better life.

Those Latinos who are U.S. Citizens from birth, contrary to the rest who have to struggled for years to achieve that pinnacle, all thanks to the Jones Act by the U.S. Congress, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, on March 2nd of 1917.

AL DÍA will remember the occasion, on March 2nd, 2017, on the 100th Anniversary of this decision by the U.S. Government which switched the destiny of the noble inhabitants of the Caribbean island, better known as “Borinquen” or “Isla del Encanto.”

Prominent members of the Puerto Rican Diasporain Philadelphia have been invited to make this project their own, providing guidance, critique and much needed financial support to make this story happen.

This is an an open invitation to the business, political, religious, civic and nonprofit sectors leaders to take the proactive approach on participating in the solution to this other immigration drama, whose latest expression is the spectrum of a mounting debt that the government of the island is unable to pay, throwing more people into the narrow path of an always undesired exile.

This coming week I will be on the phone requesting personally their support.

This is how serious and urgent this project is:

I recent poll states that close to half of Americans are unaware that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

Even worse, half of the country doesn’t now that the island faces a crushing debt of $72 billion.

We know that documenting the story of Puerto Rico is essential and we are determined to render this basic public service:

To make people in general aware of the context of this crisis so that all Americans, in their wisdom, including those of Boricua descent with ample resources we are writing to, start dialoguing on solutions, at the same time they provide their crucial financial support to make this exceptional project a reality.